This week our Founder and Specialist Neurological Physiotherapist, Jennifer Wynne shares her extensive experience of working with patients with life-changing injuries and complex neurological conditions and talks about the concerns that they have when they are first introduced to the team at The Rehab Physio.
A common concern that patients have when we first talk to them about our intensive rehab programme is:
Is intensive rehab appropriate for me and my condition/injury?
Intensive neurological physiotherapy is appropriate for a variety of conditions that affect the nervous system. These conditions often require specialised and focused rehabilitation efforts to help improve function, mobility, and overall quality of life.
Some of the key conditions where intensive neurological physiotherapy is appropriate include:
- Stroke
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Spinal Cord Injury (partial or complete paralysis from trauma or disease affecting the spinal cord)
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Cerebral Palsy
- Post Surgical Rehabilitation (after brain or spinal injury)
- Catastrophic/poly-trauma injury (following a road or work accident)
What is intensive rehab exactly and how does it work?
For neurological rehabilitation to be effective, a patient needs to experience enough of the right movements for physiological changes to happen. These changes to the nervous system are known as neuroplasticity and when the rehabilitation treatment is both frequent and often, result in the generation of new brain cells and nerve pathways.
The latest research indicates that at least 80 hours of intensive rehabilitation, ie. thousands of repetitions per hour over hundreds of hours not only provides the best outcomes to patients with neurological conditions and catastrophic injuries but also results in improvements which are more likely to last.
Achieving this level of intensity is difficult using conventional physiotherapy techniques and equipment due to limited resources (ie. physiotherapists, time, equipment and cost) and the practicalities of achieving thousands of repetitions. This is where technology comes in…
At The Rehab Physio we use technology such as robotics and virtual reality (VR) to provide the intensive rehabilitation required to allow our patients to harness previously undiscovered rehabilitation potential within their bodies, and in some cases surpass their original expectations.
How do we decide whether this approach is right for you?
Determining whether intensive neurological physiotherapy is appropriate for you depends on several factors, including your specific medical condition, the severity of your symptoms, your overall health, and your personal rehabilitation goals.
Here are some steps and considerations that form part of our comprehensive assessment process when we meet new patients to help you decide if our intensive rehabilitation programme is right for you:
Medical Evaluation
We will carry out a thorough assessment of the patient’s diagnosis or neurological condition, liaising with their healthcare team where necessary to ascertain whether we feel that they will benefit from an intensive approach.
Goals and Expectations
Rehabilitation Goals: It’s important for us to find out more about our patient’s short-term and long-term goals. We’ll discuss their functional goals and the activities which will help them in their everyday lives. For example, transferring from a wheelchair to a chair or working on their upper limb strength to allow them to prepare food for themselves.
Realistic Expectations: It’s important that the desired goals realistically achievable. It’s in our interest to make sure that our patients benefit from an intensive programme so if we don’t think they will, we always take an honest approach and let them know.
Current Functional Status
Mobility and Function: We will work with our patients to assess their current level of mobility and daily function. Intensive therapy can be particularly beneficial for patients who are experiencing significant limitations.
Pain and Discomfort: we will discuss the level of pain or discomfort that our patients may be experiencing and how it might be managed during therapy.
Support System
Family and Caregivers: Having a support system in place can help to manage the demands of intensive therapy. We build relationships with family members as well as our patients and we know from experience that their support makes a huge contribution to our patients progress, both physical and mental.
Transportation and Logistics: As mentioned earlier, our intensive programme consists of 80 hours of rehab treatment which can be accessed over 4,5 or 7 weeks (equating to 20, 16 or 12 hours per week respectively). Our patients need to be committed to attending all their sessions to achieve the best outcomes.
Resources
Financial Considerations: Check your insurance coverage and explore financial options if necessary. The Rehab Physio works with a number of organisations who provide financial support so call us to find out more.
Access to Facilities: Many of our patients travel to us from beyond the North West so we offer residential packages with discounted rates at local hotels.
Personal Readiness
Commitment: Be prepared for the physical and emotional commitment required for intensive therapy. Our treatment programmes are flexible and involve 4 hours per day over 4,5 or 7 weeks depending on the patients’ personal circumstances.
Motivation: Your motivation and willingness to actively participate in therapy are crucial.
So to summarise, our intensive rehab programmes may be right for you if:
- You have a neurological condition that impacts your daily life.
- You are motivated to improve your functional abilities.
- You have the support and resources to commit to an intensive therapy schedule.
- You have been advised by your healthcare provider that intensive therapy is appropriate for your condition or injury.
If you would like to find out more, check out the intensive rehab section of our website and then give us a call on 0151 665 0266 for an informal chat.